After being closed for a month, Domino’s reopened its newly renovated restaurant to the public on Saturday.
Local manager Rob Disman said that renovations were something they needed and wanted. Domino’s now offers seating areas, two 42 inch TVs that display their menu, red and detailed walls, free WIFI, a public restroom, a new oven, a step-up for children to watch the pizzas being made, and even a chalkboard wall for customers to write comments on. Additions still to come are a TV monitor to display the progression of the online orders, a TV for cable, and replacement of the wooden deck to concrete steps.
“We were operating in an old beat-up building,” Disman said. “As part of my franchise agreement, I had one year to remodel. We’ve had to do some extensive work so we pretty much built a new Domino’s in four weeks.”
Disman likes the new open atmosphere because he can interact with the customers who can see that they are operating cleanly. The new red oven that Disman personally bought can handle more volume and is very visible with the exposed kitchen. Although he said a lot of the changes were beneficial, the oven may be the most important one.
“Before on a Friday or Saturday, I could get enough employees to make the pizzas but the oven couldn’t cook them fast enough,” Disman said. “Now I have the biggest and best top-of-the-line oven.”
Beth Tolbert has been an employee at Domino’s for about three months. She said the work environment is now more efficient, cleaner, and that she wants people to know Domino’s is reopened with inside seating.
A definite Domino’s regular and a senior at SRU, Steve Rickard has been to Domino’s two times since its reopening. Rickard said he likes the new restaurant feeling with seating and soon to be TV because before it was outdated and he would go in and grab his food quickly.
“Domino’s being closed was a letdown because it killed the variety of food places in Slippery Rock,” Rickard said. “Once one place closes down, you are forced to choose between only two other options every day.”
Disman said he does expect business to improve especially with local people because even if they aren’t Domino’s fans, it’s something new they will want to try out. He has already had people stop to see the renovations and not get pizza; they were just very excited to see what it looked like.
Posted on a wall inside the restaurant is a statement Dismon is proud of; “Did you know 90% of franchise owners started as delivery experts.”
“Just as the sign says, I started out as a driver in college and I worked my way up by saving my money,” Disman said. “I’m a local guy and I want people to know they are dealing with a real local person, not a corporate Domino’s.”
